MTA/OIG #2013-16 January 2014 ABUSE OF TIME, FALSIFICATION OF RECORDS AND GROSS LACK OF PRODUCTIVITY BY FOREMEN AND EMPLOYEES OF THE STRUCTURES DIVISION OF METRO-NORTH RAILROAD Barry L. Kluger MTA Inspector General State of New York INTRODUCTION In August 2013 the Office of the MTA Inspector General (OIG) issued its report entitled “Productivity of Road Machinists in Metro-North Railroad’s Work Equipment Division (MTA/OIG# 2013-05). During the course of that review regarding Work Equipment, a part of the Metro-North (MNR) Maintenance of Way Department, OIG conducted a separate investigation focusing on the conduct of foreman and crews spanning four different trades from the Structures Department (Structures), another unit of Maintenance of Way. Our findings regarding Structures are particularly alarming given the active wrongdoing of the foremen involved. Specifically, we found that over a five-month period from April to August 2013, each and every Structures foreman who OIG investigated abused his position by engaging in non-work related activities during business hours, used his MNR vehicle inappropriately, involved members of his crew in the abuses, and subsequently filed false timesheets for himself and his crew. Predictably, we also found that every crew member accompanying each foreman participated actively or passively in these improprieties. Additionally, our investigation uncovered evidence that MNR lacks appropriate internal controls and also raised serious questions regarding the role of management in the utilization and oversight of these crews, particularly regarding the amount of work they should and actually do accomplish during their shifts. While our report here does not attempt to cover every act of wrongdoing OIG observed, it does reflect the extensive surveillance and data review we conducted and reveals compelling evidence of serious misconduct, for which we recommend appropriate discipline. Of course, we will make available to MNR management, for disciplinary purposes and lessons-learned reviews, the detailed video surveillance recordings made and GPS tracking data compiled by OIG investigators to support their findings. MTA Office of the Inspector General 1 MTA/OIG Report #2013-16 January 2014 INVESTIGATION Structures/Elevators (Mechanical Foreman SAMUEL GIORDANO) OIG investigators conducted visual surveillance on Foreman SAMUEL GIORDANO and his assigned MNR truck #2149 on April 11, 2013 as well as a combination of visual surveillance, video recordings and GPS tracking from April 12, 2013 to May 2, 2013.1 OIG investigators observed GIORDANO and several of his apparent MNR subordinates2 abuse time by running errands, driving around on personal business and engaging in other non-work-related activities. Giordano works a 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. tour according to the MNR organizational chart (7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. according to KRONOS swipes) out of his home base of MNR Croton-Harmon Yard (Croton-Harmon or Croton Yard). April 11, 2013: GIORDANO’s time sheet indicated that he worked for 8 hours doing “Shop Work” (meaning work performed in the Croton-Harmon Yard facility) and worked through lunch (1/2 hour “work lunch”). However, during GIORDANO’S shift, OIG investigators observed that he left the yard twice in his MNR vehicle #2149 for reasons that did not appear to be work-related. For example, at 10:42 a.m., he left the yard and was observed driving on Route 9A and turning onto Wood Road; and, at 12:19 p.m., he left the yard and was observed driving on 9A, making a U-turn near Maple Street, driving north on North Riverside Avenue and back onto 9A (minutes from his Montrose residence). April 15, 2013: On his timesheet, GIORDANO claimed to have performed four hours of “Shop Work” and 4 hours of “Hudson Line Generator Maintenance” (plus a paid meal for GIORDANO). To the contrary, though, GPS data reveals that during his tour GIORDANO stopped twice at his personal residence, the first time between 8:46 a.m. and 8:52 a.m., and the second time between 11:28 a.m. and 11:43 a.m. after having ostensibly completed Generator Maintenance work in Peekskill, New York (between 9:52 a.m. and 11:23 a.m.). After leaving his residence the second time, GIORDANO also stopped at three different parks for 35 minutes (one hour including travel between the parks) before returning to the Croton-Harmon yard.3 April 16, 2013: On his timesheet, GIORDANO claimed to have performed 4 hours of work at the Poughkeepsie station, 4 hours of work at the Cold Spring Station and 1.5 hours of overtime for a door repair job at Mt. Vernon East. GIORDANO arrived at the front section of the 1 All details in the report are based on a combination of visual surveillance, video recordings and GPS tracking data, unless specifically noted to the contrary. 2 During the investigation, GIORDANO did not have a consistent identifiable crew and he usually drove alone (with the crew members in a different MNR vehicle). While OIG was able to identify one of the crew members who abused time along with GIORDANO, the remainder can be identified by MNR by viewing the videotape. 3 Giordano stopped at Steamboat Waterfront Park in Verplanck, New York (11:47 a.m. to 11:55 a.m.); Hudson River waterfront at Half Moon Bay on Elliot Way, Croton-on-Hudson, New York (12:11 p.m. to 12:37 p.m.); and Croton Point Park (12:46 p.m. to12:47 p.m.). MTA Office of the Inspector General 2 MTA/OIG Report #2013-16 January 2014 Poughkeepsie Station at 9:23 a.m. and a few minutes later met with two other MNR employees, one of whom was subsequently identified as MNR Electrical Foreman Marco Tiso (TISO). On TISO’s time sheet, he claimed to have performed 4 hours of work at the Poughkeepsie station for elevator repair, 4 hours of work at the Cold Spring Station and 7 hours of overtime for an elevator job at Yankee Stadium. GIORDANO, TISO and TISO’s work crew remained at Poughkeepsie station for just under one hour (9:23 a.m. to 10:21 a.m.). During that time, GIORDANO, TISO and an unidentified crew member spent 30 minutes drinking coffee and talking, but GIORDANO, TISO and TISO’s work crew spent only approximately 20 minutes performing work-related functions. After leaving Poughkeepsie at 10:21 a.m., GIORDANO, along with another MNR employee in vehicle #2149 and TISO with his crew in MNR truck #3470, drove to the Poughkeepsie Plaza Mall (arriving at 10:28 a.m.) where they all entered and shopped at Harbor Freight Tools. After leaving the store, GIORDANO and his passenger went back to the vehicle and left the parking lot at 10:51 a.m. As TISO and his crew were exiting the store, OIG investigators left the parking lot to continue their surveillance of GIORDANO. In an OIG interview, TISO did not specifically remember April 16, but acknowledged taking his crew members with him in his vehicle. He stated, “I’d have to say if the guys were with me, I dragged them with me.” After leaving Harbor Freight Tools, GIORDANO then drove to Lowes Home Improvement Center at the Poughkeepsie Galleria Mall and bought what appeared to be a garden rake. GIORDANO and the unidentified MNR worker then drove to Home Depot in Wappingers Falls and then to a second Home Depot in the Fishkill Mall. After spending over one hour and 30 minutes on the shopping excursion (10:21 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.), GIORDANO and the MNR co- worker in his vehicle then drove to Cold Spring Station at 12:06 p.m. and remained there until 1:58 p.m., spending less than 2 hours at that job site. After leaving Cold Spring, GIORDANO drove back to Croton-Harmon Yard for 3 minutes, but immediately left to go to a Shop Rite supermarket for 10 minutes. He returned to Croton- Harmon at 2:44 p.m. and stayed at the yard until 5:30 p.m., before going home. Notably, GIORDANO claimed on his time sheet that he worked 1.5 hours of overtime for a door repair job at Mt. Vernon East. At no time did OIG investigators observe GIORDANO at Mt. Vernon East, let alone working there, and the GPS did not show GIORDANO’s vehicle at or near that location. Instead, he was physically present at Croton Yard during these allegedly overtime hours. Even if GIORDANO actually performed required work during that period at Croton Yard, and we have no evidence that he did so, his claim for additional pay in the form of overtime is egregious for two reasons: first, he was untruthful about even being at the Mt. Vernon East facility, the location where he claimed he performed the overtime work, and second, he should have performed that “overtime” work at the straight time rate earlier in the day instead of running his own personal errands. MTA Office of the Inspector General 3 MTA/OIG Report #2013-16 January 2014 April 17, 2013: GIORDANO claimed on his time sheet that he worked “8 Regular Pay hours” for “Fleetwood Elevator Repair.” Despite his claim, he was only present at the job site (Fleetwood Station) for less than 40 minutes (arriving at 10:14 a.m. and leaving at 10:52 a.m.)— a fraction of the eight-hour claim. Instead of working, he drove to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx (11:15 a.m.) for no apparent business purpose, drove back to Northern Westchester (bypassing the Fleetwood station) to Verplanck where he ate his lunch by the water in Steamboat Waterfront Park (12:09 p.m.